Valentine's Day
by Lady Dudley
Summary: For various reasons Jackie does not enjoy Valentine's Day. This year, however, things could turn out a little differently to how she expected.


**A/N: Firstly, I apologise for the _very_ unimaginative title!! This is a little piece for Valentine's Day (oddly enough :P), once again I have Taggartfied a scene from a movie. This time it's _When Harry Met Sally_ and I also stole a line from _An Ideal Husband_. If you haven't seen them I recommend both movies, along with the two mentioned in the story. **

**Hope you enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**_Valentine's Day_**

Jackie was annoyed.

She hated Valentine's Day and today had been no different.

In fact, if anything, it had been worse than normal. To start with she had spilt coffee all over her new shirt, making her late to work as she'd had to change. The chewing out she'd then received from Michael had been the icing on the cake to her morning.

All this before the schmaltzy lovey-dovey stuff began. Everywhere she turned there were happy couples enjoying 'their' day.

Yet even this she could have withstood had she not overheard Michael making dinner plans for that evening. Not that she would ever stoop to anything as petty as jealousy.

Never that.

What upset her was that for the last few years she and Michael had done something together. Ever since Michael had made the decision that no one should be alone on Valentine's Day, as they both usually were.

Robbie making countless phone calls to every girl in Glasgow had been the last straw and her tenuous hold on her temper had snapped.

"What is wrong with everybody?" she demanded, "This is such a _stupid_ holiday," she added, grabbing Robbie's phone and hanging up on whatever floozy he was chatting up.

"Careful, Jackie, that smacks of bitterness," Robbie teased, plucking his phone out of her hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said primly as she sat back down at her desk.

Robbie grinned, "A little jealousy stirring the lovely Miss. Reid?"

"I know it's hard, Robbie, but don't talk nonsense," she shot back.

Robbie's grin grew wider, "Ah, so you _are_ jealous."

Jackie's eyes narrowed dangerously, "I most certainly am not, in fact I have plans of my own tonight."

Robbie raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"I do!" she insisted, "So I couldn't care less about what Michael's doing."

She realised her mistake when Robbie starting laughing, "Or you or anyone else!" she added, fighting off a blush.

Robbie gave her a disbelieving look and she threw a pen at him, "Leave me alone Robbie."

Robbie sobered as he regarded her, "All right," he agreed.

Jackie eyed him suspiciously, but let it go.

The rest of the day was uneventful, apart from Robbie's occasional snickers when he remembered her outburst, and Jackie returned home with big plans of seeing the rest of the day out with a block of chocolate and a movie.

She was just settling herself down to watch _Sabrina_ when the phone rang. Mumbling that it had better be important Jackie picked up the phone.

The last person she was expecting to be on the other end was Michael.

"Hello," she greeted him, feeling a little uncertain.

For his part Michael was also a little unsure of himself, "Hi," he responded. There was a silence as Jackie wondered what she was meant to do next, she was about to ask why he had called when Michael continued speaking.

"I'm sorry, Jackie, I know we didn't really talk about this, but, well, it's Valentine's Day and we always said that if neither of us had a date we'd do something together so I was wondering if you wanted to do something," he explained in a rush.

Whatever she was expecting him to say that wasn't it, Jackie tried to think of something to say. "Oh, you have a date?" Michael guessed, breaking the slightly awkward pause, "I'm sorry, I should have known you would," he finished, soundly a little embarrassed.

"No, I don't have a date," Jackie said flatly, "what about you? I thought you had a date?"

"Oh, the phone conversation," Michael began, after puzzling for a moment over what she was talking about, "that wasn't a date that was a 'strategy meeting' drinks invitation for tomorrow night," he explained.

"Oh," was all that Jackie could think of to say in response.

"So...would you mind if I came over? I can bring sustenance and a movie," he suggested.

"I don't know Michael..." she began.

"Or you could come over here, I wouldn't want to impose," Michael interrupted her.

Jackie suppressed a sigh as she decided to bite the bullet, "No, I mean, I don't know that it would be a good idea."

Her comment was greeted with silence.

"I'm sorry, Michael, but I'm not your consolation prize," she said softly and hung up the phone before he could protest.

Stifling a sigh Jackie looked back at the TV screen: Audrey Hepburn was frozen staring longingly at William Holden dancing with another woman. She sighed; suddenly she wasn't in the mood for a movie.

She turned off the TV and started to eat her chocolate, fighting off her guilt at what she had said to Michael. She probably could have phrased it less bluntly, but it wasn't enough to just do things together because they weren't with someone else.

She wanted to do things with him because he wanted to be with her, not because he couldn't find someone else to spend the evening with. Sooner or later he _would_ find someone and where would that leave her?

She remembered how she had felt earlier that day when she thought he all ready had, better to break the habit now before she got hurt.

He hadn't even called back to protest.

She nodded to herself, definitely better to break the habit now.

After justifying her decision she decided to go back to her original plan of a movie and chocolate, though she didn't feel quite equal to watching _Sabrina_ any more. She settled down with _George and the Dragon_ instead; James Purefoy always did wonders for her mood.

It was close to midnight when the movie finished and she was debating with herself about her level of motivation to get off the couch and go to bed, when the doorbell rang.

In retrospect, it probably shouldn't have surprised her to find Michael on her doorstep, but she _was_ surprised.

"What are you doing here?" she blurted, before blushing slightly.

Michael ignored her outburst, "I've been doing a lot of thinking and the thing is...I love you," he stated baldly.

Jackie stared at him, "And how am I supposed to respond to that?" she asked when she had recovered her voice.

"How about you love me too?" he suggested.

"How about you're leaving, good night Michael," she said as she went to shut to door.

He put his hand out and stopped her, "Doesn't what I said mean anything to you?" he demanded.

"Michael, I'm sorry, I know it's Valentine's Day and you're lonely but you can't just show up here and tell me you love me and think that's going to make everything all right. It doesn't work that way," she told him, making to close the door for the second time.

Again Michael stopped her, "All right, what about this?" he asked, "I love that I can have a conversation with you across a crowded room; I love that you can make me laugh when I don't even feel like smiling. I love that smile you get when you're up to something, I love how you can read me like a book." He paused to gauge her reaction before continuing in a softer tone, "And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's Valentine's Day. I came here tonight because when you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

By the time he'd finished his tirade Jackie was speechless, "All of which is why I would really like to kiss you now," Michael added in a teasing tone.

Jackie laughed, wiping away a stray tear, "Well don't let me stop you," she said, still smiling.

Cautiously Michael took another step towards her and, when he perceived no signs of resistance, he kissed her.

"You know you still haven't told me what you think," Michael said with a smile as he broke the kiss.

Jackie gave him a slightly dazed smile, "About what?"

Michael grinned and kissed her softly on the forehead, "About what I said."

Jackie grinned in return, "Oh that," she said loftily with a teasing smile, she turned serious at the look in his eyes. "Oh Michael, you silly boy," she told him, gently pushing his hair off his forehead, "if you knew anything about anything, which you don't, you'd know I absolutely adore you," she finished, sealing her answer with a peck on the lips.

Michael smiled and pulled her closer for another kiss.

As the kiss deepened Jackie reflected that perhaps Valentine's Day wasn't such a bad holiday after all.


End file.
